1935 — Jan 1, Fire, Cherokee County Home for elderly men dormitory, Gaffney, SC — 5

lornajarrettblanchard January 1, 1935

— 5 AP. “Five Aged Men Burn to Death at Gaffney.” Daily Times, Wilson, NC, 1-1-1935, p. 1.

— 5 NFPA. “Multiple-Death Fires in Nursing Homes & Homes for the Aged, 1921-1978 (list).”

Narrative Information

Jan 1, AP: “Gaffney, S.C., Jan 1 — (AP) — Five aged men were burned to death and fifteen injured here early today when fire destroyed the main building of the Cherokee county home as the thermometer stood at freezing. Convicts from a prison camp situated only a few hundred yards from the scene rescued the screaming inmates, wrapped them in blankets from the camp and aided in rushing them to hospitals. Approximately 60 persons were housed in the building. Origin of the early morning blaze was not determined immediately. The main building, the only one lost, was destroyed completely.

“The dead: Tom Young, 73; Pink Young, 68; Frank Franklin, 75; Wash Gregory, about 70; Alf Emory about 70….

“Authorities began an immediate investigation of the flames which are believed to have started on the roof.

“No fire fighting apparatus was available to fight the raging flames which melted ice from trees and shrubbery after the mercury had fallen to freezing early in the night. There was no water, said L. F. Allis prison camp foreman and nothing was left to do but watch the greedy tongues of fire lick through the structure….” (Associated Press. “Five Aged Men Burn to Death at Gaffney.” Daily Times, Wilson, NC, 1-1-1935, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Five Aged Men Burn to Death at Gaffney.” Daily Times, Wilson, NC, 1-1-1935, p. 1. Accessed 7-1-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/wilson-daily-times-jan-01-1935-p-1/?tag

National Fire Protection Association. “Multiple-Death Fires in Nursing Homes & Homes for the Aged, 1921-1978 (list)”. In: United States United States Congress, House of Representatives. Boarding Home Fires: The Tip of the Iceberg (Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Long Term Care, Select Committee on Aging, 96^th Congress, First Session, April 25, 1979). Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979, pp. 312-314.